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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27723002">Longer Than A Month</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/riacte/pseuds/riacte'>riacte</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>MCC Hermits and Friends [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game), Minecraft championship - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bittersweet, Blue Bats, FRUIT MISSES HIS FAMILY, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Missing Friends, Sad and Happy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:00:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,281</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27723002</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/riacte/pseuds/riacte</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aug 28 · @MCChampionship_: Announcing Team Blue Bats! HBomb94, Fruitberries, FalseSymmetry, Rendog! Watch them compete in the MC Championship on Saturday 12th September 8pm BST! </p><p>Nov 22 · @cptskips: IM SO EXCITED!! i hope they win </p><p>Nov 22 · @froubery: me too</p><p>-</p><p>Fruit misses his Blue Bats. He really does.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>(i'm just using what other people have used), Liam | HBomb94 &amp; Josh | Fruitberries &amp; FalseSymmetry &amp; RentheDog &amp; Charles | Grian &amp; Cubfan135, blue bats and lime liches and lime llamas, falsesymmetry &amp; fruitberries &amp; hbomb94 &amp; rendog, what are these tags - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>MCC Hermits and Friends [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014315</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>97</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Longer Than A Month</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fruit still remembered the twelfth of September.</p><p>How could he ever forget the Blue Bats’ legendary win? How could he ever forget HBomb’s aggressive yet hilarious encouragements? How could he ever forget the astonished yet ecstatic look on False and Ren’s faces when they realized they actually won MCC for the first time? </p><p>That night they cried and laughed and cheered like they had never before. Fruit barely knew Ren and False— in fact, he’d known them for half a month, but there was a sense of intimacy and camaraderie binding them all together. They’d practiced, they’d sweated and suffered, they’d doubted themselves, but never doubted each other. They’d trusted one another, they’d brought each other up, and they’d actually <em>won</em>. They loved each other. The Blue Bats didn’t just feel like a team. The Blue Bats felt like <em>family.</em></p><p>Fruit had long adored H. H’s strength was team games, while Fruit’s was individual games. They complimented each other nicely. Conversation seemed to flow easily when he was with H. (Fruit knew he sounded a little less dead with H.) H knew when to chill and when to take things seriously, he knew when to hype and when to calm down his teammates. Fruit knew he was a pretty decent player, considering he regularly got first overall in MCC and was Technoblade’s “sensei”. The pressure was immense, though. He always had to “pop off” so he could reach the expectations he’d set for himself. And while Fruit knew H wholly supported and believed in him, H was just as fine with Fruit not getting as good as a result. H would just smile, heartily slap Fruit on the back and cry out “<em>Good try!</em>” And the constant and genuine comfort took some of the weight off Fruit’s shoulders. </p><p>Fruit knew H liked him as well. H was always screaming about how good he was. In fact, sometimes H seemed more pumped about something Fruit did than Fruit himself, which was hilarious and endearing. <em>“You’re so good at this, Josh,</em>” he would declare like it was a fact, not an opinion. And Fruit gave H all of his respect in return. With Fruit’s carefully-thought-out strategies and H’s knowledge of his teammates’ strengths and weaknesses, they were unstoppable. With H, Fruit felt he could unleash his full potential. And he was sure H felt the same.</p><p>The hermits were also extremely nice and friendly. Just their presence made Fruit feel at ease. It probably had to do with them being, well, hermits. Members of Hermitcraft were famous for loyally sticking to their tight-knit group and they didn’t interact much with other players. While they may not be as sociable as the others, the pure love they showed to their friends was <em>phenomenal</em>. Fruit knew Ren and False were old friends (they had teamed up for practically every MCC they had been in), and it seemed like their warmth and fondness for each other had extended to other members of the Blue Bats. </p><p>… Now Fruit thought about it, the hermits were really good at forging bonds. After MCC9, Fruit took a liking to how wholesome and loving the hermits were, so he asked Scott to team him up with more of them. Now that he’d been with both Grian and Cub, Fruit firmly stood by the belief that the hermits were some of the kindest players he knew. Sure, they were a little shy, and for some reason pretty damn insecure (Fruit would combust if Grian asked for his address <em>again </em>to send him a “handwritten apology letter”), but they were so appreciative and thankful for everyone and everything. And they didn’t even know it. Fruit remembered the instant Ren won, he started thanking his team and Noxcrew and Scott. Ren was actually crying tears of happiness, and was probably extremely emotional, but even in that state, the first thing his subconscious thought of was to thank those who had helped him. The hermits were so pure.</p><p>The hermits gave him cute nicknames as well! “Fruityloops” from Ren, “Fruity B” from Grian. The corners of Fruit’s lips quirked up when he thought of Grian. At first, he only knew Grian was a) a highly respected builder and b) one of the pioneers of Minecraft. (He didn’t even know Grian was a hermit.) So it surprised him to see Grian screaming his lungs out when the Blue Bats stepped onto the Dodgebolt arena. Why was this blond shortie in a pink waistcoat so invested in their team? </p><p>“MY TEAM!” Grian had screeched, waving his arms wildly, streaks of blue face paint on his face. He didn’t seem to care that the Bats were too focused to notice him. “<strong>MY BOYS!</strong>”</p><p>Fruit didn’t know who this guy was, or why he was calling them “his boys” (seriously, did he forget False?!), but he sure appreciated the unadulterated enthusiasm and the strange sense of belonging. It was a little odd, but endearing. </p><p>Later, Fruit discovered Grian was in fact a hermit and barely knew Fruit and H, but Grian cheered for the Blue Bats anyway. When the Bats won MCC9, Grian had dashed forward and instantly tackled his fellow hermits in a hug. Grian’s cheeks were rosy when he looked up to see a mildly flabbergasted Fruit. </p><p>“You were so cool, Fruitberries!” Grian had gushed. “That shot was simply amazing. Thank you <em>thank you </em>for giving my friends confidence!”</p><p>(The fact that Grian had said “Fruitberries” was a testament to how little they knew each other then.)</p><p>… Fruit decided he liked the hermits, so he decided to team up with other hermits. Which was very nice, but he sorely missed H.</p><p>At first Fruit didn’t even realize it. But then he realized his only chance of seeing H was every month at MCC. There was a certain hollowness in his heart when Fruit remembered he wouldn’t be able to see H at MCC10 because neither of them were participating. When Fruit saw H in MCC11 again, it was more than a month later. H was part of the Blue Black Cats (a horrific name, if you asked for Fruit’s opinion), while Fruit was in Lime Liches with two of the Blue Bats along with Grian. Fruit was part of the Hermit Team now.</p><p>… Fruit missed the Blue Bats. It just wasn’t the same without H. His energy and optimism always managed to cheer others up. But MCC9 was over and MCC11 was upon them. Now, Fruit was part of the Lime Liches and Grian was definitely not H’s replacement. Although Lime Liches consisted of ¾ of the Blue Bats, they were certainly not a copy of the legendary MCC9 champions. </p><p>Fruit’s heart warmed when he heard Grian call him “one of the boys”. Apparently Fruit was an honorary hermit now even though he couldn’t do a fraction of what the hermits achieved in a single episode. </p><p>Fruit was accepted into the hermits’ tight knit family. From what he had heard, it had taken years for Grian to join Hermitcraft even though he was best friends with Mumbo, another hermit. Fruit had just played a few rounds of MCC with the hermits! Did he really deserve the title, even though he really wanted it?</p><p>But Fruit didn’t question it. He just enjoyed his time with them. Fruit liked being around Cub. There was something calm and comforting about his voice. Cub said he “didn’t do well” in the games when they teamed up in MCC12, but he held his chin up high in Dodgebolt. It was nice for a hermit to be confident in Dodgebolt (to be fair, he did win MCC10 with the Orange Ocelots). </p><p>… The Lime Llamas were standing in the Dodgebolt arena. Pearl was experiencing serious issues, but they’d managed to get into Dodgebolt, which only showed how strong of a team they were. They’d spent so much time practicing for this moment. Fruit took deep breaths to steady his breathing. He glanced at his teammates. They all had tense expressions on their faces, which was normal—</p><p>“GO LIME!”</p><p>Fruit spun to the audience. The Aqua Axolotls, which consisted of Grian, False, Ren and Fwhip, were jumping excitedly and proudly waving lime banners. HBomb was standing close to them with a gigantic smile on his face.</p><p>“Go Cub!” Grian cheered, obviously excited for his friends. “Go Pearl!” Then his eyes met Fruit’s and Grian’s grin became even wider, if it was possible. “FRUITY B!” He screeched with wild abandon. Fruit was a little taken aback, but nevertheless managed to smile in Grian’s direction.</p><p>“Aaaand Joel,” Grian drawled with a smirk like it was an afterthought. Next to Fruit, Joel’s jaw dropped and he clicked his tongue in annoyance.</p><p>“What the heck, Grian!” Joel roared, and Fruit chuckled. It seemed so like the gremlin Grian to purposely exclude one of his friends.</p><p>“Go Lime! <em>Go Lime!” </em>False pumped her fists in the air. “You got this!”</p><p>“JOEL, DON’T LET ME DOWN!” Fwhip hollered.</p><p>“Well, at least <em>someone </em>cares,” Joel muttered under his breath, a little pissed yet amused.</p><p>Yet another familiar voice burst out from the sidelines. “LET’S GO FRUITYLOOPS LET’S GO!” Ren screamed, frantically clapping his hands. “You got this, baby!”</p><p>“FRUITYLOOOOPS!!” Another achingly-familiar voice cried out, and Fruit’s heart skipped a beat. It was HBomb, one of Fruit’s favourite people ever. Fruit spun to see H in his ridiculous maid costume (Fruit could <em>hear </em>H say “Master UwU” in his mind and it was cursed as heck). H’s eyes were bright and shining and he was beaming with pride. Fruit couldn’t help but grin. </p><p>… Dammit. Their friends were <em>way</em> more emotionally invested in Dodgebolt than the Lime Llamas, and they were the ones playing it! Fruit supposed that was one of the charming things about his friends.</p><p>“YO!” Fruit yelled at the audience, now encouraged by his friends— no, <em>family. </em>His Blue Bats had come back together to support him in Dodgebolt. Yes, they were separated into different teams, but nothing could break the bond they shared.</p><p>… In the end, Fruit’s team didn’t win. Fruit was disappointed in himself, mostly because he got eliminated while he stood still to shoot, which was a stupid, <em>stupid </em>mistake (according to H, this was his Achilles’ heel). He could’ve given Pearl her first win and Cub would become the <em>second </em>back-to-back winner after False! (“Hermit supremacy!” Fruit thought to himself) So yeah, that was quite tilting.</p><p>But it was nice that his family always had his back. H screamed the house down once he realized Fruit got first overall, and suddenly the hermits were all hugging him, congratulating him on his performance. No one seemed to mind that he “dragged the team down” in Dodgebolt. Fruit adored the warm and cozy atmosphere with his friends. Too bad they only saw each other once a month.</p><p>Fruit watched as H returned to joking with his team of Orange Catmaids. Their team easily had one of the best chemistry for this MCC, and it was a pity that they didn’t get into Dodgebolt. H was conversing with them so effortlessly, and Fruit could hear his boisterous laughter even from a distance. Once upon a time, Fruit could get to hear him laugh up close.</p><p>Cub was now eagerly discussing with his hermit friends, and Fruit was once again reminded of how close the hermits were. Why wouldn’t they be, when they spent virtually every day living next to each other for years? After all, in their eyes, Fruit was just some newly eighteen-year-old kid who couldn’t build amazing structures like they did. Try as he might, he wasn’t an official part of the hermits.</p><p>… H had his own family. Ren, False, Grian, and Cub had their own family. Of course Fruit had his other friends, but it did make him feel slightly weird (and not in a good way) to see H and the other Dream SMP members walk through one portal, and the four hermits into another, when he went back to his own portal alone. It was like that every time.</p><p>Fruit’s footsteps echoed in the empty corridor as he made his way towards his portal. Chatter and laughter behind him caught his attention. “Byeee, Fruity B!” a cheerful voice sang.</p><p>It was the hermits. They were all breathless from talking too much and their arms were linked up. Even though Fruit had teamed up with all four of them, they were infinitely still closer to each other. Which Fruit expected. In fact, he would find it odd and rather concerning if it wasn’t. Fruit didn’t mind at all.<em> Really</em>.</p><p>“Thanks for everything, Fruit!”</p><p>“See ya next month, Fruityloops!”</p><p>Fruit waved at them, and in three seconds, the hermit quartet had disappeared in a swirl of murky purple. Fruit could still faintly hear H’s voice— he was probably annoying Fundy or something. Fruit sighed and subconsciously rubbed his arms. The air suddenly seemed especially cold now that no one was in the portal room with him.</p><p>Fruit saw his family once a month.</p><p>…</p><p>It felt way longer than a month. It really did.</p><p>…</p><p>Fruit just wanted the Blue Bats back. He just wanted the Lime Liches back. <em>He wanted his family back.</em></p><p>(The next MCC, MCC13, was exactly three months after MCC9. Three months since the Blue Bats won. Fruit wondered if he would see them there.)</p><p>So when he saw that someone retweeted the announcement of <em>his</em> Blue Bats with a “i hope they win”, even thought it was two and a half months after MCC9—</p><p>Fruit’s lips quirked up in a bittersweet smile, and his fingers tapped on his keyboard, typing out two words:</p><p>
  <em>“me too”</em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>FRUITBERRIES MISSES THE BLUE BATS... he truly understands us. <a href="https://twitter.com/froubery/status/1330493714377175040"> Here is the tweet in question. </a></p><p>I'm getting this out before MCC13 teams are announced... desperately hoping for a H and Fruit combo. My ideal team would be the Blue Bats of course, but since Scott essentially banned them (since they won), would it be too much to hope for H + Fruit + Grian + Cub? Probably?</p><p>I don't know why but I'm suddenly getting vibes of Ren and False on different teams. Imagine if we get Ren + Grian VS False + Cub. They would really be bringing the Turf War to MCC. (I'm reminded of my Ren VS False kinda-angst fic hahahahah)</p><p>Apologies if this is kinda all over the place! I just needed a place to vent out my Blue Bats feels ;-; and Fruit's tweets are making me miss them more lmao.</p><p>Hope you enjoyed! :D</p><p>Edit: Read the continuation Viraha <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27754828">here</a>.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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